Changes for 2020 ~

It was a cold frosty day as I walked along the creek
on our quiet mountain road.
I snapped these photos trying to capture the beauty
of the icy covered creek.

Why, even the willow branches were graced with ice crystal's.

A beautiful sight for sure!

Winter is my favorite season and I believe we can enjoy

it's beauty if we go through our days with a right heart attitude.

God's creation with all four season's is magnificent 

and each season has a purpose that unfolds amazing beauty
for our everyday enjoyment.
Thank you God!

"To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose

under the heaven."

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 ~

There is One who keeps the world (and our lives) in order,

that is God.

He is the One who causes all things to happen in their "seasons"

and gives everything a "purpose".

I see the season's changing in my own life.

With much quiet time and prayer with the Lord,
and contemplating over a few of my own personal reasons 

I have come to the decision of not continuing with my Blog.

It will be a change for sure, but I believe God has a purpose 

for my stepping away ~ from the computer especially.

This month marks three months short of six years when I wrote my first post here

and it was such a huge step for me!
I sincerely believe that God directed me to Blogging 
and had a purpose for my life with this Blog, at that time for certain.

God has certainly been the center of each posting,

all 201 postings infact. 😊

Having this Blog has allowed me to share with so many of you

my love for Jesus and it has been pure joy!

I have met and made some wonderful friends establishing 

some very beautiful friendships that I pray will continue

outside of this Blogging community.

While I will not be posting, I will continue to leave my Blog live
allowing God to use the postings He has faithfully guided me to share
in the hearts of those who may visit here.

My prayer is that readers will be blessed as they visit.

I see God taking me in a different direction now

and while I'm one who tries to do it all, I just can't, and God knows I can't;

therefore His plans and His purpose for me, are changing.

Thank you, for faithfully following, visiting and connecting 

with me through your most delightful comments.

You have been awesome!

These last six years with my Blog have changed my life

in more ways than one, and ALL my praise goes to God!
"Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises 
unto our God; for it is pleasant 
and praise is comely {beautiful}."
While I'm looking to spend my time going down different avenues, 

you may very well see a visit from me from time to time as I know I'm going

to want to swing by and see not only YOU, but your beauty.

~ ~ ☆ ☆ ♡ ☆ ☆ ~ ~

Each season has a joy it brings and with it's own song it sings ~
Each season represents a new cycle of life
as a reminder of God's loving grace.
God is so good to us!
As we allow Him into our lives, He will guide us lovingly, 
step by step in the direction and down the paths 
He has precisely chosen for each and every one of us.
God's purpose and plan for our lives is always for our very best!
Thank you God, for Your love towards us!
❤

Joy!
Debbie

Glory to God in the Highest ~

Hello to you my dear and precious followers!

In the busyness of this season, the celebrations,

the shopping, the lights, the decorations, the parties

and all the glitter that comes with the season, I pray that you are

finding the time to reflect on the true joy, peace, hope

and love that the coming of the Christ child

makes possible for each and every one of us.

O to behold His glorious appearing!

~ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ~

O come, O come, Emmanuel 

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lowly exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

~ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ☆  ~♡ ~ ~

The hope of the world is a Savior.

On this Christmas Day find in your hearts time for Thanksgiving ~

"Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift."

{ 2 Corinthians 9:15 }

Christmas is a time for gifts...God's Christmas gift to you, is Eternal life.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord."

{ Romans 6:23 } 

  By faith...you can receive God's greatest gift...Eternal life 

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

~ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ~

"And she {Mary} brought forth her firstborn son,

and wrapped him in swaddling cloths,

and laid him in a manger; because there was no room

for them in the inn."

{ Luke 2:7 }

Jesus came to earth as a helpless, tiny seed planted 

in the womb if a young Jewish virgin.

Forty weeks later, Jesus was born in a filthy stable in Bethlehem.

It's the Christmas miracle ~

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,

(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father)

full of grace and truth."

{ John 1:14 }

Have you room in your heart for Jesus?

The very definition of our Lord is this:

"God is love { 1 John 4:8 }

" He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."

~ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ~

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 

but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;

but that the world through him might be saved."

{ John 3: 16 -17 }

~ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ☆ ~ ♡ ~ ~

Merry Christmas!

For myself ~ I will be taking some time to reflect and enjoy Christmas.
This season is always my greatest time to reflect 
on the past year and quietly spend alone time with the Lord.
It's a special time for me.

I'll see you back here in the New Year.
Take care and God bless you richly.

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you

through the knowledge of God,

and of Jesus our Lord"

Joy!

Debbie

Where O Where have I Been!

Tulips...my most favorite flower of all.

And the color of these which is an orange/red makes them so very pretty!

These tulips were what I would consider perfect,
 both in their color and in the length of time they graced my bedroom dresser.
Tulips...as we all know...do not last very long, but these were amazing!
I usually cut the stems as they continue to grow and begin to droop,
but not this time, instead I left them to themselves with plenty of space 
and each day they were more stunning than the day before.

I was in awe each day with their beauty.
As the stems grew longer and they drooped downwards 
it caused the flower to point directly at me as I stopped to enjoy their beauty;
oh I could see right into the center of the flower...gorgeous!
Maybe that's how we are to enjoy a tulip?
If you think about it, the center of a tulip is like a Kaleidoscope.
A tulip is short lived and fades quickly, sadly they are temporal.
But, the Word of God and His promises are Eternal.
"The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the Word of God stands forever.
~ Isaiah 40:8 ~
What matters in our lives is that we are following the leading of God's Word,
that we're on the right path, always eager to move forward,
willing to be transformed into the image of God,
day by day, moment by moment, by His Word.

It seems like Thanksgiving came and went so quickly. 
My husband and I were able to enjoy Thanksgiving 
and a few days with mom in Arizona.
Going away involves so much, but its always worth the effort.
We took both of our pets with us on this trip, Donatella and Binx our rabbit
and they were awesome travelers!
I made some mini mincemeat tarts for mom, her favorite.
They freeze well which makes them easy for traveling.

Before going away to Arizona we were blessed to have 
our three oldest grandsons with us for a few day's.
They all have birthdays a month apart this time of year,
so it has become a tradition to celebrate their birthdays together
during their Thanksgiving school break.
When it comes to entertaining and throwing a party, that's my niche,
so of course I went all out making it special and memorable for them.
Our boys are turning 12 ~ 14 ~ 16 and that's a BIG WOW!
They were just babies not too long ago...where did those years go?!
Sometimes its hard to believe that our 4 grandsons are in the double digits now.
I can remember when our first grandson was born,
I said to my daughter, 'what am I supposed to do with that?!
I grew up with 3 sisters and each of us had girls, so boys 
were all new to me.😉
Well...those grandsons have warmed their way right into my heart.

While we were in Arizona we took a drive through the
Saguaro National Park and this time through it was gorgeous!
This cactus looks so soft doesn't it, but don't be fooled, a cactus is a cactus.

 With a touch of snow on the high mountain tops, along with the rain they had
 we were able to see the river flowing as well as some water falls.
That was a first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty God afforded us.

Just a slow leisurely drive the day after Thanksgiving
added a beautiful touch to our time together.

 These are water droplets on a bush in the National Park
and it appears that the plant was meant to collect the water like this.
God's creation really is intricate, isn't it?

We had good traveling weather both directions missing snow storms 
both before going and returning home
allowing for some beautiful landscapes for our 14 hour drive each way.
The distant mountains in Utah were covered with fresh snow
on our way back home.
The red rock formation in front of the snow covered mountain
makes the white stand out even more so.
Just plain gorgeous!

These rock formations look like a painting, almost unreal.
Makes me think that they could be from another planet.

~ ~ ☆ ☆ ☆ ~ ~

This was a long overdue post, so thank you for taking the time
for a long visit.
I trust your days are beautiful as you make your way into December?
I hope to enjoy decorating our home this week
and preparing for Christmas in celebration of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
I'll be around to visit with you and see what 
beauty you have to share.
God bless you!

Joy! 
Debbie

Meet our Foxy Lady ~

A great BIG Hello to each and every one of you!

Is it really possible that Thanksgiving (here in the States anyway)

is in less than two weeks?

October hit us hard with snow and some below freezing temps (-7)

but November has been absolutely beautiful with those

Colorado blue skies and warmer days,

in fact, the 28 inches of snow we had at our home

has nearly disappeared. Hard to believe that I was out on my

snowshoes twice with that awesome snow.

I'd like for you to meet our new friend Foxy Lady,

isn't she one gorgeous fox?!

She's the prettiest female we've seen on our property over the past 25 years.

Cooper, or White Paw as I called him (he had only one white paw) was an

older Male who became buddies with my husband, but never returned 

after one hard winter. We think he died of old age, he seemed very wise

and I'm sure that's why he lived to be so old.

Cooper would take an egg right out of our hands ~ he sat with us 

when we had a fire in the outside pit ~ played like a dog with my husband

and came around as if we were his family.

Unlike Cooper, Foxy Lady has yet to figure the egg out. 🤔

Hence ~ fox in the hen house.

She greets my husband at the garage when he arrives home from work ~

she waits on our front porch early every morning

to say Good Morning. 

We find her curled up with that full and fluffy tail wrapped around her

keeping herself warm and snug.

My husband sits and talks with her on the deck, it's so cute.

Their buddies now.

Foxy Lady had two babies this Spring and brought them around

only a few times (sadly no pictures) but we have not seen her babies.

She's not as calm as Cooper was, she's always looking up and around,

maybe the mountain lion got her young ones as we've had a problem.
Look at those velvet legs and ears, she's gorgeous!

Foxy Lady wants to play with Donatella but I'm not so sure 
she wants to bother with her.
Not knowing Donatella's story before we rescued her
leaves us uncertain of her social training as she doesn't 
really pay much attention to other dogs or other animals 
for that matter, she's kind of aloof. 
We think she was used in a puppy mill, she's a lemon Beagle,
rare because she has no dark spots.

In this particular picture above my sweet Donatella
isn't feeling very well, so of course she isn't giving Foxy Lady
much of her attention.

Look at this darling face!
Donatella loves to sing for her Kong filled with treats in the morning 
and twice I've caught her falling backwards onto her back...Yikes!
The vet told us that Beagles are known to have back problems 
because their bodies are long so we need to be careful.
Well...a Beagle with no song...that is going to be hard to change.
Our vet did a laser treatment on Donatella's back,
Wow, it was amazing!
That girl was feeling better soon after we arrived home.

Isn't she precious.
It's been just over a week now and my baby girl is slowly returning back to herself. 
Oh! I nearly forgot to mention that while we were waiting 
for the vet in the exam room I was rubbing Donatella's ears...she loves that...
and I felt a bump behind her ear, I thought it was a wart,
she has been blessed with a few of those, poor darling.
Turns out it was an abscess from a spider bite. ☹
Poor, poor baby girl...
With each day she's growing stronger and stronger, 
going up and down the stairs by herself, enjoying her walks
with a little more enthusiasm and staying close by my side 
rather than sleep the day away.
 I'm praising the Lord for His watch care over her
and for my wonderful veterinarian and her assistant.

"Sing aloud unto the God our strength:
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob."
~ Psalm 81:1 ~

Joy!
Debbie

What Rolls off your Lipstick ?

For years now, my mornings in my private little "girlie" bathroom
have been my time to ponder.
What do I ponder on you might ask?
Just about everything ~ from my family to this world's happenings 
to the relationship I have with Jesus, (examining myself before God)
but always on God.
It's early...It's quiet...I'm all alone...And I know God meets me there.
Mornings spent in my little corner of our home
are directed in personal quiet talks with the Lord over so many things. 
This precious time is also used for my Scripture memory time, 
which allows for the beginning of the day to be focused on God, the One
who is greater than all the things which fill up my mind and heart.
As I finished off getting ready for the day ahead with a splash of lipstick
I had a thought and was reminded (from God I know) of certain Scripture verses
pertaining to my lips, my mouth, and what comes out of it.
As women, some of us like to pretty ourselves with a splash of lipstick

adding some color and sweetness to our lips.

But...what do we allow to roll off of those pretty little lips?

The Scriptures are very clear as to 

flattering with our lips.

♡♡♡

"He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets:

therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips."

~ Proverbs 20:19 ~

♡♡♡

"A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a 

faithful spirit concealeth the matter."

~ Proverbs 11:13 ~

♡♡♡

A talebearer is a gossip, someone who likes to talk about others.

It's as easy as sitting over a cuppa with friends,

sharing and having a wonderful time together 

when someones name comes up and before you realize it,
that sweet fellowship can lead to gossip.

At that moment, are we willing to honor God's Word

and be of a "faithful spirit" who honors God with our lips?
Or will we fall prey to evil and open our lips saying something we shouldn't have?
"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life:
but he that openeth wide his lips
shall have destruction."
~ Proverbs 13:3 ~

♡♡♡
Oh Precious Jesus... as Your messengers, Your mouthpiece 
and Your ambassadors, may our lips be all that You want them to be ~
  encouraging, exhorting, edifying and uplifting.
Words really do matter.
They have the power to heal, to hurt, to love,
to hate, to change people and relationships.
♡♡♡
"Hear; for I will speak of excellent things;
and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
For my mouth shall speak truth; 
and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; 
there is nothing froward or perverse in them."
~ Proverbs 8:6-8 ~
♡♡♡
Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Heavenly Father, 
we know that out of the abundance of the heart
 the mouth speaks ~ for good or evil.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit 
and as we apply Biblical Truths to our lives
help us to place a guard upon our lips,
to be true and faithful with our speech
so as to give You all the praise and glory.

Be Lovely!
Debbie
❤